Effects of production time, die condition, and feed mill on the physical quality of commercial broiler diets

A variety of milling conditions can impact the physical quality (pellet durability index (PDI) and feed form (FF) composition) of broiler diets. Likewise, FF composition has been observed to affect broiler prehension and feed consumption patterns. Numerical differences in nutrient composition between pellets and fines have also been reported. Therefore, feeding diets with poor physical quality may lead to variations in nutrient intake among broilers. Reductions in the physical quality of feed could be partially related to frictional die wear. However, no research has indirectly evaluated the effects of die wear (i.e., production time) on the physical quality of finished feed from commercial feed mills. Therefore, the objective of this experiment was to quantify the effects of production time, die condition (new or reconditioned), and feed mill on PDI and FF composition of finisher 1 broiler diets from 4 commercial feed mills over a 12-wk production period. Production time (P > 0.05) did not affect dietary PDI and FF composition during each production period. Die condition and feed mill interacted (P < 0.05) to affect FF composition at one feed mill with the new die producing a higher and lower concentration of pellets and crumbles, respectively, than the reconditioned die. However, feed mill (P < 0.05) affected all measures. Thus, the physical quality of broiler diets is not affected by production time but die condition may influence FF composition. However, this effect was feed mill dependent. Overall, feed mill was most responsible for the physical quality of broiler diets.